RRZ Estimates Economy Growth at 3.7% in 2Q and at 3.8% in Whole of 2019

Bratislava, May 20 (TASR) - Slovakia's economy will grow by 3.7 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in the second quarter of the year and by 3.8 percent of GDP in the whole of 2019, TASR learnt from the May short-term economic forecast, released on Monday by the Budgetary Responsibility Council (RRZ) on social networks, with the forecast also drawing attention to growth risks, including in particular weaker exports and unfulfilled anticipation of accelerating household consumption. According to the forecast, GDP should grow year-on-year by 3.7 percent also in the third quarter. "The estimate for the whole of 2019 is 3.8 percent year-on-year, representing a negative 0.2 percentage point of GDP risk against the original forecast at 4 percent as of February 2019 released by the Macroeconomic Forecasting Committee," said the council. According to the Statistics Office, the Slovak economy grew by 3.7 percent year-on-year in the first quarter. The Budgetary Responsibility Council pointed out that GDP growth over the past few quarters has been under the expectations of the prognosis due to lower net exports at the end of 2018. RRZ sees the greatest risk for the second quarter of 2019 in foreign trade, mainly because of lower exports. am/mcs